5A Scenic Areas: Significant Year-on-Year Increase in the Total and Average Number of Deep Tourists Received

In 2024, China's Spring Festival was successfully inscribed on the UNESCO list, which greatly stimulated the enthusiasm of both Chinese and foreign tourists for traditional cultural tourism. During the 2025 Spring Festival holiday, cultural tourism, ancient buildings and ancient town tours, and cultural and museum tours became popular choices. Chinese and foreign tourists, through visiting ancient buildings, experiencing lantern appreciation, temple fair tours, and exploring folk arts and crafts, have a deeper understanding of the strong atmosphere of the Chinese New Year, "fueling" traditional cultural tourism.

From the perspective of individual tourism projects, 5A-level scenic areas are still one of the main recipients of the tourism market during the 2025 Spring Festival holiday, and the number of deep tourists received has increased significantly compared to the 2024 Spring Festival holiday.

The top 50 5A-level scenic areas monitored by the Technology Innovation Center received a total of 32.925 million deep tourists (tourists staying in the scenic area for more than 1 hour; in this section, "deep tourism" or scenic area "tourist volume" refers to this meaning), with an average of 658,000 deep tourists per scenic area.

Compared with the 2024 Spring Festival holiday, the total number of deep tourists received by the top 50 5A-level scenic areas and the average number of deep tourists received per scenic area have both increased by more than 54%.

Among the top 50 5A-level scenic areas in terms of deep tourist volume, 25 scenic areas have a short-distance travel proportion exceeding 70%, while the Forbidden City, Phoenix Ancient City, and Nanshan Cultural Tourism Area, among other 11 5A-level scenic areas, have a long-distance tourist proportion exceeding 50%.

In addition, red cultural tourism and intangible cultural heritage experience tours have attracted a large number of international tourists interested in Chinese culture and history, making 5A-level scenic areas an important check-in point for foreign tourists.

Among them, the 5A-level scenic areas most popular with foreign tourists include OCT Tourism Resort, Hangzhou West Lake Scenic Area, the Memorial Hall of the First, Second, and Fourth National Congresses of the Communist Party of China, Lijiang Ancient City, and Suzhou Jinji Lake Scenic Area.

National-Level Tourism Resorts: Significant Increase in Tourist Stay Time, High Proportion of Long-Distance Tourists

As the core of the tourism industry, tourism resorts not only bear the responsibility of attracting tourists but are also key links in promoting tourism consumption and local economic development. In recent years, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism has attached great importance to the development of tourism resorts and has implemented a national-level tourism resort cultivation project. These national-level tourism resorts, with their unique natural scenery and rich cultural activities, have become popular destinations for tourists to relax and vacation.

The 85 national-level tourism resorts monitored by the Technology Innovation Center received a total of 22.038 million deep tourists (tourists staying in the resort for more than 2 hours; hereinafter referred to as "deep tourism" in this section), and the top 20 resorts received a total of 11.442 million tourists, with an average of 572,000 tourists per national-level tourism resort. Among them, national-level tourism resorts in Southwest China and East China performed brilliantly—the total number of national-level resorts in these two regions accounts for 80% of the top 20 list.

Table 2 Top 20 Tourist Volume of National-Level Tourism Resorts During the Spring Festival Holiday

Note: The deep tourist volume in the figure is expressed as an index.

Data monitored by the Technology Innovation Center also shows that during the Spring Festival holiday, the stay time of tourists in 85 national-level tourism resorts increased significantly, with a high proportion of long-distance tourists, and 3-4 day trips became the preferred choice for most domestic tourists. Among them, the number of resorts with a long-distance tourist proportion of more than 30% reached 26, and the number of resorts with an overnight tourist proportion exceeding 50% reached 44.

In addition, with their unique natural scenery, cultural heritage, and high-quality services, each national-level tourism resort has a different number of inbound tourists. The top 5 national-level tourism resorts most popular with foreign tourists are Shanghai International Tourism Resort, Zhuhai Hengqin Chimelong International Ocean Resort, Sanya Yalong Bay Tourism Resort, Dali Ancient City Tourism Resort, and Xiannvshan Tourism Resort.

Overall, the rising popularity of overnight trips and the prevalence of 3-4 day vacations have become an important trend in the cultural and tourism consumption market during the 2025 Spring Festival holiday.

Provincial and Municipal Level: Mainstream Cities Remain Popular, Non-Mainstream Cities Show Strong Growth

According to the tourism weather forecast jointly issued by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the China Meteorological Administration, the weather conditions across most of China during the 2025 Spring Festival holiday were generally suitable for travel, with comfortable climate conditions in South China, southeastern East China, southern Central China, and southern Southwest China. Among them, parts of southern South China and southern Yunnan reached the "most comfortable" level, and Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, southern Yunnan, southern Sichuan, and Hainan had high levels of suitable climate for avoiding the cold, suitable for tourism and health preservation.

A pleasant holiday combined with good weather led to a surge in national travel enthusiasm, with mainstream tourist cities remaining popular and non-mainstream cities showing strong growth.

Data monitored by the Technology Innovation Center shows that the top 30 cities receiving in-depth cross-city tourists (tourists from other cities staying for more than 6 hours, hereinafter referred to as "out-of-town in-depth tourists") received a total of 35.626 million out-of-town in-depth tourists, with an average of 11.875 million per city. The top 3 most popular cities are Chongqing, Zhoukou, and Fuyang.

Among them, traditional large cities such as Chongqing, Xi'an, Beijing, Chengdu, and Guangzhou remain among the top 30 tourist destinations during the 2025 Spring Festival. These cities, with their rich historical and cultural resources, modern tourism facilities, and festive atmosphere, attracted a large number of tourists, and their tourism markets remain highly active.

In contrast, less mainstream cities, with their advantage of "beautiful scenery and fewer crowds," also attracted a large number of tourists. For example, Zhoukou, Fuyang, Shangqiu, and Nanyang ranked among the top five, surpassing Xi'an, Beijing, Chengdu, and Guangzhou, demonstrating strong growth in their local tourism markets.

Table 3 Top 30 Cities with Out-of-Town In-Depth Tourists during the Spring Festival Holiday

Note: The deep tourist volume in the figure is expressed as an index.

According to data monitored by the Technology Innovation Center, the top 10 provinces and regions with in-depth provincial tourists (the sum of unique out-of-town in-depth tourists from various cities within the province, excluding municipalities) received a total of 540.367 million tourists, with an average of 54.037 million in-depth tourists per provincial destination. Henan, Hunan, and Anhui provinces ranked among the top three in terms of in-depth provincial tourist volume.

Table 4 Top 10 Provinces with In-Depth Tourists during the Spring Festival Holiday

Note: The deep tourist volume in the figure is expressed as an index.

Overall, the abundant supply of cultural and tourism products during the 2025 Spring Festival holiday, along with the convergence of the return-home rush and tourism boom, promoted interaction between first- and second-tier cities and county-level tourist destinations, driving a virtuous cycle in the domestic tourism market. In particular, the popularity of niche destinations in third- and fourth-tier cities and county-level cities has significantly increased, further consolidating the internal circulation of tourism consumption.

Inbound and outbound tourism: 58% of inbound in-depth tourists stayed for 3 days or more

Data released by the National Immigration Administration on February 5 shows that border inspection agencies nationwide facilitated the entry and exit of 14.366 million Chinese and foreign personnel during the 2025 Spring Festival holiday, a year-on-year increase of 6.3% and a 14.6% increase compared to the same period in 2019. Among them, 7.671 million mainland residents entered and exited the country, a 5% increase compared to the same period in 2024; 5.737 million Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan residents, a 5.6% increase compared to the same period in 2024; and 958,000 foreigners, a 22.9% increase compared to the same period in 2024.

Overall, the global dissemination of Chinese culture and the two-way interaction between international tourism have driven the prosperous development of the inbound and outbound tourism market, further achieving a virtuous cycle of tourism economy. With the influx of international traffic at the beginning of 2025 and the widespread dissemination of the "intangible cultural heritage version of the Spring Festival" on social media, China Travel has upgraded to Chinese New Year, with Chinese and foreigners making a two-way journey, exchanging places to celebrate the Chinese New Year.

According to statistics from multiple tourism platforms, inbound tourism orders during the 2025 Spring Festival saw a significant year-on-year increase. For example, inbound tourism ticket orders on the Ctrip platform increased by 180% year-on-year, and inbound tourism hotel orders increased by more than 60% year-on-year.

Data monitored by the Technology Innovation Center shows that during the Spring Festival holiday, the top 20 cities receiving inbound in-depth tourists (tourists from abroad staying in mainland cities for more than 6 hours) received a total of 3.117 million inbound in-depth tourists, with an average of approximately 156,000 per city. Among them, the top three cities in terms of inbound in-depth tourist volume are Shenzhen, Quanzhou, and Guangzhou. In addition, 58% of inbound in-depth tourists stayed for 3 days or more.

Table 5 Top 20 Cities with Inbound In-Depth Tourists during the Spring Festival Holiday

Note: The deep tourist volume in the figure is expressed as an index.

Table 6 Top 20 Cities for Outbound In-Depth Tourism during the Spring Festival Holiday

Note: The deep tourist volume in the figure is expressed as an index.

Table 7: Top 20 Source Countries and Regions of Inbound In-Depth Tourists during the Spring Festival Holiday

Note: The deep tourist volume in the figure is expressed as an index.

In terms of outbound tourism, data from a civil aviation platform shows that during the Spring Festival holiday, the actual number of international and regional passenger flights was 18,400, a 21.40% increase year-on-year compared to the 2024 Spring Festival holiday. The average price of international air tickets (including tax) for a one-way ticket was over 2,000 yuan, a 13% decrease year-on-year compared to 2024.

Whether it is domestic in-depth tourism or outbound tourism, the travel trends of Chinese and foreign tourists during the Spring Festival holiday show diversification and high-quality development, painting a hopeful picture of the tourism market.

Data Notes:

(1) The data in this article mainly comes from the monitoring data of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism's Technology Innovation Center for tourist behavior monitoring and decision-making services.

(2) The number of in-depth tourists in scenic areas and resorts refers to the number of tourists who leave their usual residence for more than 10 kilometers and 6 hours, and stay in scenic areas or ski resorts for more than 1 hour, and in resorts for more than 2 hours. One person entering and exiting a destination multiple times is counted as one person.

(3) The number of out-of-town in-depth tourists in a city refers to the number of tourists who leave their usual city for more than 10 kilometers and stay in the destination city for more than 6 hours. One person visiting multiple destinations in a city or staying for multiple days is counted as one person.